Automatic device for opening or closing doors



(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 1. J. H. WHITAKER.

AUTOMATIO DEVICE FOR OPENING 0R CLOSING DOORS.

No. 496,027. Patented Apr. 25, 1893.

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(No Model;)

a Sheets-Shet 2. J. HVWHITAKER. AUTOMATIG DEVICE FOR OPENING 0R CLOSING-DOORS. No. 496,027.

' PatentedAprfZ5,1893.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. H. WHITAKER. O AUTOMATIC DEVIOB FOR OPENING OR CLOSING DOORS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. WHITAKER, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC DEVICE FOR OPENING OR CLOSING DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,027, dated April 25, 1893.

Application filed March 4, 1892. Serial No. 423,800. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHv H. WHITAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Devices for Opening or Closing Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of automatic devices for opening and closing doors, whereby the opening of the door is accomplished through the medium of levers, operated by means of the weight of the person who is about to pass through such door, while the closing of the same is automatically accomplished by rollers traversing an inclined track or by a counterweight operating said levers in a reverse manner, the rollers traversing a horizontal track, and the object of my improvement is to provide a cheap and simple device for automatically opening and closing doors, together with such further objects as are hereinafter disclosed. I accomplish these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of double sliding doors with my device attached. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view taken on the line YY of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1 on the upper surface of the floor. Fig. 4: isa plan view of the same on the under surface of the floor. Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 1. Figs. 6 and 7 are modifications of my device which will hereinafter be fully explained, and Fig. 8 is a front view of the holder attached to partition G.

Similar letters and numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughoutthe several views.

To avoid confusion, I will commence the numerals of reference at 10.

In illustrating myinvention, I have applied it to sliding doors; that is, doors which are hung or mounted by means of pulleys and rails, and in the illustration, I'have shown double doors, one door being opened by the weight of a person operating the levers applicable to that door from one side, the other door being opened by the weight of a person, operating the levors applicable to that door from the opposite side. It will be apparent, however, to a person skilled in the art, that by the adoption of merely mechanical modifications and changes, my invention may be applied to open and close a single door from both sides.

A- represents the floor joists; B, the floor; O-O, doors; D, straps secured to the upper portion of the door, in upper portion of which,

are journaled rollers E, which traverse the inclined rails F, which are secured to the top of the door frame.

In arranging the double doors, I may construct three cross partitions G, H, and I, as are shown in Fig. 3, which are parallel and equi-distant apart. At each end of the partition H, may be placed a suitable post J to the front edge of the door; such post is shown in Fig. 1. One door 0, is hung against the ends of the partition HI, and the other door is hung against the opposite end of the partition H, and the corresponding end of the partition G. I also may construct wings K to conceal the doors when opened, in which it will be understood there are suitable stops, not shown in the drawings to limit the backward movement or sliding of the doors. It is also apparent that the partitions G, H, and I may be omitted if desired, and the doors 0, O, placed on aline in which case the tread plates hereinafter described will occupy a position extending into the room on either side of the respective door, instead of occupying a position within the recess formed by the partitions G, H, and H, I, as will appear from the description following; Each door 0 is provided with a like device, one being the duplicate of the other. Hence I will describe my device as attached to one door, it being understood that the other door is provided with a like device.

My improvement consists of a bell-crank lever, having a long arm 10 and a short arm 11, which is journaled on the pin 12 at its apex; such pin being secured to a holder 14 and which holder is secured to the rear side of a partition G or I in any suitable manner. See Fig. 8. On the inner side of the rail F, and at the rear of the rear edge of the door 0 when closed, is a pulley 15, suitably journaled to such rail. See Figs. 1 and 2. The

strap 16 is attached near the front edge of the door 0 at its top, and such strap extends above the door to theupper surface of rail F, where it is bent at right angles to cross over and extend inward from such rail, to which end is attached a cord, rope, chain or cable 17, the opposite end of which is attached to the end of the long arm 10 of the bell-crank lever. The rod or bar 18 is pivoted at its upper end by the pin 19 at one end of the short arm 11 of the bell-crank lever, and the lower end of such rod or bar 18 passes through an aperture in the floor B. The horizontal lever 20 is secured beneath the floor B by the hinged holder 21, so that such lever will be in the rear of and parallel with the bottom edge of the doorOand in line with the bottom end of the rod or bar 18 and one of its ends be beneath the end of such bar or rod where the same are journaled together by means of a slot in the end of such lever into which the end of the rod or bar passes, the connecting pin 22 securing the same together. The opposite end of the lever 20 is provided with a suitable weight W. A rectangular aperture is cut into the floor 13 above the lever 20, extending back therefrom sufficient to accommodate the tread plate 23, the rear end of which is secured to the floor by hinges 24. The opposite end of the tread plate is pro vided on its under surface with a block 25, which rests upon the upper surface of the horizontal lever 20 and to prevent displacement, I prefer to make an aperture through said lever for the passage of a pin 26 attached to said block.

To secure steady, uniform movement to the door in sliding, I arrange an air cushion which consists of a long box or tube 27, provided with a longitudinal slot 28, and in the box is a plate or cushion formed to easily fit the interior of such box or tube, and which cushion or plate I have not shown in the drawings, as its construction will be readily understood. To one of the surfaces of the cushion or plate I secure a bar 29, which passes outward through the slot over the rail F and downward, where it is secured to the upper part of the door 0, near its inner edge.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated the air cushion as located above and to the rear of the inclined railand parallel thereto, and also within the slide-way of the door, but it is obvious that its location may be'changed without departing from the scope of my invention. I prefer to construct the air cushion of greater dimensions than shown in the drawings, which is there shown of less dimensions than I prefer to use because of the want of space. It will be apparent also, that instead of using an air cushion, as I have described, an ordinary air door check may be substituted and arranged to produce the same result.

In Figs. 6 and 7, I have illustrated one modification or change in my device which may be made without departing from the scope of my invention. Fig. 6 represents a front elevation of adoor and a section of .another with my device attached in a modified form, and Fig. 7 represents a view of the rear edge of the door. In this instance the roller rail F is horizontal and the two arms 10 and 11 of the bell crank, are not at right angles and such bell-crank lever at its apex is pivoted by a pin 13 to a standard or partition L at the rear of the door in the slideway. The rod or bar 18 at its upper end is attached to the short arm 11 of the bell-crank lever by the link 19. At the foot of rod or bar 18, extends in the direction of the slide-way and substantially parallel with the door, at the rear thereof a bar 30, secured to or attached integral with said rod or bar 18 at such an angle that when the door is closed, such bar 30 rests upon the upper surface of the floor, and at its end is attached a suitable weight W. In the opposite direction extends from such bar or rod 18, secured to or integral therewith, a lever 20, which lever at its front end, is elevated at a suitable height when said bar 30 rests upon the floor. The lower end of rod or bar 18 is suitably journaled by a pin 21 to the standard or partition vL. The tread plate 23, at its outer end, is hinged to the upper surface of the floor by the hinges 24 and its inner end rests upon and is supported by lever 20*. At the upper end of the inner edge of the door is arod 31 parallel with and projecting from the edge of the door, and secured to such door by the brackets 32. The

collar 33, through which said rod 31 passes,

is secured to the upper end of the long arm 10 of the bell-crank lever by means of the connecting pin 34, which passes through a suitable aperture and is properly journaled therein.

In the modification here shown, I place the air cushion 27 above the door opening and to the rear of the roller rail F and it is also obvious that such air-cushion could be placed under the floor and beneath the door.

I do not broadly claim the feature of an air cushion as air door checks are well known and are old.

It will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that many modifications and changes may be made in my device as here illustrated and without departing from the scope of my in- Vention.

My device is particularly useful when applied to doors leading from the kitchen to the dining rooms of hotels as heretofore double swinging doors have been used for such purpose where the servants in passing to and fro with trays would use their feet to kick against the doors and swing them open, thus making noise by such acts and also defacing the doors. I do not wish to limit my invention to use upon such doors alone however.

In operation, the servants pass in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, stepping upon the tread plate. The weight of such person forces such tread plate and the horizontal bar downward as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1, which in turn throws the bell-crank lever backward to the position as also indicated by' the broken lines in the same figure drawing with it the cord 17 and IIO causing the door to move upon its rollers on the rail so as to occupy the position also indicated by the broken lines in the same figure, leaving the doorway open, when the servant passes through, and the tread-plate, being relieved of its weight, the inclined rail and weight W cause the door to move in the opposite direction and resume its normal position.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the weight of the servant on the tread plate swings the lever 20 down to the floor and throws the rod or bar 18 forward,and this in turn raises the outer end of bar 30 and its weight W and also swings the long arm 10 of the bell crank lever backward, causing the collar 33 to traverse downward on the rod 31, thus moving the door 0 backward by causing its rollers to traverse the rail in that direction, bringing the various parts in the position as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 6, leaving the door way open, when the servant passes through, and the tread plate being relieved of its weight, the weight W will descend causing the door and the various parts to again return to their normal position.

From the description given, persons skilled in the art will understand the mode of construction and operation of my improved device.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in an automatic device for opening and closing doors, of a bell crank lever, one of its arms connected with a door mounted on pulleys on a rail, its other arm connected by a bar or rod with a pivoted lever, one end of which lever is Weighted, and the other end unweighted, the hinged tread plate operated by a weight descending thereon against the unweighted part of said last pivoted lever, for the purposes set forth and substantially as described.

2. The combination of a tread plate hinged at one end to the floor, the opposite end arranged to be depressed by means of any descending Weight thereon, the pivoted lever against one portion of which the tread plate is operated to swing it on its fulcrum, the weight secured to the opposite portion of said lever, the bar or rod connected at one end to such lever, and operated thereby, the bellcrank lever having one of its arms connected to the opposite end of such bar or rod, the other arm of said bell-crank lever connected with a door mounted on pulleys on a rail, together with the air cushion connected with said door for the purposes set forth and substantially as described.

3. In combination with a sliding door mounted by pulleys on arail, of the journaled bell crank lever, having arms of unequal length, the longer arm connected with said door, the pivoted lever weighted at one end and unweighted at the other, the shorter arm of said bell crank lever operatively connected with said pivoted lever, and the unweighted part of said pivoted lever, adapted to be 0perated by a descending weight thereon, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a sliding door, the bell crank lever having one of its arms connected with said door, and the other arm connected with a pivoted lever weighted at one end, of the tread plate hinged at one end to the floor, the other end arranged to operate against the weighted end of such lever by means of the descent of a counter over-balancing weight on such tread plate, for the purposes stated and substantially as described.

5. In combination with a sliding door and bell crank lever pivoted near the apex of its angle, one of, its arms being connected with said door, of the bar or rod connected at one end with the other arm of said bell crank lever, the pivoted lever operatively connected with the opposite end of said bar or rod, the weight secured to the lever at one side of its pivot, the hinged tread plate against said lever at the opposite side of said pivot, whereby the weighted end of such lever may be raised by means of the descent of a counter over balancing weight on such tread plate for the purposes stated, and substantially as described.

JOHN H. WHITAKER. Witnesses:

T. A. MURPHY, L. G. SUSEMIHL. 

